JACA

 JACA

JACA (Chaca in Aragonese) is a city of northeastern Spain near the border with France, in the midst of the Pyrenees in the province of Huesca. Jaca, a ford on the River Aragón at the crossing of two great early medieval routes, one from Pau to Zaragoza, was the fortified city out of which the Kingdom of Aragon developed: Jaca was the capital of Aragon until 1097 and also served as capital of Jacetania.

Jaca had, in 2004, 12,322 residents and is a premier tourist destination in the region for summer holidays and winter sport. Jaca was the host city of the 1981 and 1995 Winter Universiades. Its popularity for winter sports has been a motivating factor in the city's failed bids for the 1998 and 2010 Winter Olympics. It was again the applicant city of Spain for the 2014 Winter Olympics, but the bid failed again, being not selected as candidate city.

Jaca, an episcopal see in the Roman Catholic Church since 1063, is home to medieval walls and towers surrounding an 11th century Romanesque cathedral.

The origins of the city are obscure, but its name apparently reflects the Iaccetani, mentioned by Strabo as one of the most celebrated of the numerous small tribes inhabiting the basin of the Ebro. Strabo adds that their territory was the scene of the wars in the 1st century B.C.E between Sertorius and Pompey. The Moorish writers mention Dyaka as one o                 f the chief places in the province of Sarkosta (Zaragoza). When it was reconquered is unknown. Ramiro I of Aragon (1035 - 1063), gave it the title of " city," and in 1063 held within its walls a council, in which, the people were called in to sanction its decrees: an early milestone in the parliamentary traditions in the Pyrenees.

The mutiny of the garrison at Jaca, demanding the abolition of monarchy and a democratic republic, December 12 – 13, 1930, was suppressed with some difficulty. It was an early event that prestaged the Spanish Civil War. 

The Diocesan Museum of Jaca (Museum of Medieval Sacred Art) protects Romanesque and Gothic frescoes from some of the most remote locations in the district of Jaca, unsuspected until the first one was discovered in the Church of Urriés, in 1962, where it had been hidden and protected by the painted and gilded retable, or altarpiece.

ORIGINS OF THE MONASTERY OF JACA

THE ORIGINS: The origins of the monastery date back to the dark high Middle Ages (10th century), a refuge for Christian communities besieged by Muslims. Covered by one of those huge rocks, Mount Pano, the original building was built. The outer cloister is a unique jewel of the Aragonese Romanesque.

HISTORY: After the original building was destroyed at the end of the 10th century, it was refounded in the first third of the 11th century by Sancho el Mayor de Navarra. At that time began its era of splendor, promoted by the first Aragonese kings who endowed the place with numerous assets, power and influence.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT IT: Monastery of San Juan de la Peña Inside the pre-Romanesque church, the paintings of San Cosme and San Damián, from the 12th century; the so-called Pantheon of Nobles, the upper church, consecrated in 1094, and the Gothic chapel of San Victorián. In addition, it is necessary to review other buildings built in later centuries, such as the Royal Pantheon, in the neoclassical style, erected in the last third of the 18th century.

PARTS: 

• Bread oven: Old bread oven used by the monks of the Monastery of San Juan de la Peña.

• Real pantheon: On the upper floor is the Royal Pantheon. Some of the monarchs of Aragon and Navarre were buried in it for five centuries. Its current appearance dates from the 18th century.

• Pantheon of nobles: The stone looks more intense because when removing the dirt it has gained relief. Numerous funeral bills refer to those who were buried here. The oldest refers to the date 1080. It is a cemetery space with niches in a double row, outlined by sometimes decorated moldings. Sculpted symbols appear closing each niche, highlighting crosses and crismones. Small figurines like caryatids of delicate work provide support to the blind checkerboard arches.

• Museum: Inside, an original structure allows the visitor, walking through a glass floor, to see under his feet the different dependencies of what was the Monastery

• Superior church. Romanique: Consecrated in 1904

• Mozarabic door: It’s originally of the visigothic period

• Gothic chapel of San Victorian: The remains of the abbots of the monastery rest. It is the first manifestation of flowery Gothic art in Aragon.

• Romanic cloister:

 

Precisely, its isolated location gave it a legendary character that has historically been linked to the Holy Grail. Its architectural and historical wealth were fundamental for its declaration as an Asset of Cultural Interest.

A short distance from the Old Monastery a new baroque monastery was built, known as the New Monastery. The harsh conditions of the Old Monastery made the monks look for a sunnier and healthier place. The New Monastery, now restored after several decades closed, is located in a protected landscape and inside you can visit the Interpretation Center of the Kingdom of Aragón (CIRA), an integrated interactive space in which the transcendence of this space is combined with the modernity of the XXI century.

Access in summer to San Juan de la Peña from Santa Cruz de la Serós can only be done through the buses put into circulation by the Tourist Manager that manages the natural area.

The Monastery of San Juan de la Peña is divided into a Ground Floor, where there is a pre-Romanesque church and a Council room, the area of ​​origin of the Monastery, and a first floor where the pantheon of nobles, the royal pantheon, is located. the church, the cloister and the chapel of San Voto.

According to the documentation available, the church of San Pedro el Viejo had dimensions of 22 meters in length by 7 meters in width. And it had an underground chamber for the burial of the monks who were part of the community of the monastic complex to which the church belonged.5 Most of these monasteries were built in non-populated areas, so there are very few who are located in cities. It can be said that there are only two cases in the province of Huesca, San Pedro de Jaca and San Pedro el Viejo, of Huesca.6 Jaca was one of the nuclei repopulated by Count Galindo Aznárez II, so the nucleus expanded existing and became a fortified village. The management of this area of ​​the Aragonese territory was entrusted to a monastic foundation, normally of the order of San Benito, 6 under the dependence of the monastery of Siresa, so they saw it as normal to dedicate the church to San Pedro. Later, when a cathedral with the same dedication was built in Jaca, the monastic church was renamed San Pedro “El Viejo”.

WHAT IS THE ORDER OF SAINT BENEDICT?: It is a religious order, belonging to the Catholic Church, dedicated to contemplation, founded by Benedict of Nursia, dictated by him at the beginning of the 6th century for the Abbey of Montecassino.

Currently, there are 1,075 monasteries, inhabited by some 23,800 nuns.

THE JACA CITADEL

WHAT IS THE CITADEL: The Citadel is the main icon of Jaca. Its pentagram-star shape and its location, in the center of the city has turned it in a clear distinctive of the region of La Jacetania. 

INFORMATION ABOUT ITS CONSTRUCTION: It’s constructions started in the last years of the 16th century, ordered by Felipe II to defend this strategic city against the French army. Once finished The Citadel the next century, it had never been damaged or attacked (only in 1809 was taken by France after the capitulation of the city because of the lack of people to defend Jaca. Nevertheless the fortress was recovered five years later, in 1814).

The complex is formed by a fortification with a trench bordering its exterior walls and a drawbridge at its entrance. Inside its five pointed star walls there is a pentagonal construction, a church and a courtyard.

Currently you can visit exterior area of The Citadel for free (it’s highly recommended to visit it at night). You also can buy a ticket to have a guided visit of its interior. Inside the citadel there is also a military miniatures museum.

CURIOSITIES

I believe that the great curiosities of the Cathedral of Jaca are five.

  First one, the style of the Cathedral of Jaca makes it one of the first peninsular Romanesque constructions. It’s influence was so important that experts speak of the “Romanesque jaqués”, which is distinguished by elements such as decoration with balls or checkered motifs.

The second of the curiosities of the Cathedral of Jaca that deserves to be praised is the originality of its capitals, especially those attributed to the Master of Jaca-Frómista, who found much of his inspiration in the Roman world.

Another of the curiosities of the Cathedral of Jaca, fundamental to understanding the influence it had on other Romanesque constructions, is its connection with the Camino de Santiago. In addition, the function of the Cathedral of Jaca was not only religious: another of its peculiarities is that its construction helped to consolidate the incipient Kingdom of Aragon.

 The Cathedral of Jaca that Is consider essential is that the Trinitarian Chrism that decorates the western door of the Seo is full of unusual symbolisms.